SIM Sudan Newsletter September-December 2010 - World ...

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Peter and Melody are Kenyan missionaries and their sons are Rift Valley Academy students SIM KHARTOUM LIGHTHOUSE S IM Khartoum lighthouse shines in a well developed city. Peter reports, “Ten congregations—using eight different languages use the same church location every week. Uduk, Mabaan, Tigrinya, Arab, Amhara, Oromo, English and Anuak congregations use this facility as their regular worship center—as well as choir practices and youth ministries. The SIM facility is an accessible lighthouse for Jesus--busy every day of the week from 8am-8 pm on the same location, God has trusted SIM to also host two vernacular Bible Schools in Arabic, Tigrinya and Amharic. IFES/Scripture Union student ministries has their office and reaches out to 26 campuses, Arabic-speaking kids are being reached and discipleship trainings. We have been able to incubate some new initiatives as they find their footing. One of my students at Nile Theological College started Agape International Mission Training Center. They met 2 mornings a week during this last year and have now launched to larger quarters. Pray for my wife. Melody serves in an international school with Arab kids but we want to inject warmth and nurture the believers as well as offer a guesthouse haven for Christian workers. “Pray that the light of Jesus will constantly shine through us.” A displaced pastor in Khartoum has lots of opportunities to train, encourage and share the Word of God. Pray for Pastor Michael SPECIAL UPDATE The Lord has moved people to share over $19,000 USD to help with the logistical, medical and rehabilitation costs of three missionary families who lost their homes in a raid on Dec 31, 2009 in Atar village where our Teacher Training Center was based EVANGELISM AND DISCIPLESHIP T here are lots of things to be done when you want to learn from Sudanese. Ryan is currently building his house in a Ganza village and along with the rest of the team working on language. The Ganza people are very good listeners and follow along with the Trekking on an evangelism outreach stories or conversations that probe spiritual issues But whenever the gospel is given, a wall goes up and people seem to shut off. We see this as a spiritual issue and have been praying that this blindness that holds them would be taken away. Recently, however, we learned of a ritual involving a chicken and a stone which is performed by the swaks (witchdoctors) in order to bring rain. In a time of drought, the people will take a chicken to the swak who will kill it over a ‘rain stone.’ After being covered in blood the stone will be washed with water and then oil poured over it. Using this as a redemptive analogy, we told the story of how our lives are in one huge drought. But in order for there to be life, the blood of Jesus is needed. No, we don’t think chicken blood is the source of rain, but we know that the blood of Jesus is enough to give us new and eternal life. As we went through this story with Samson, an old man, he came and sat down and really got into it. He was the first Ganza person we’ve seen confess that he believed what we were saying. - Peter Matheson Give thanks to the Lord • For this opportunity to share the gospel and Samson’s response • For the small team reaching out to the Ganza people, and the good relationships they are building with the community • That the recent elections in Sudan passed peacefully Pray… • That the Ganza people will come to Christ • For wisdom for the team as they live out their faith in tonguetwister locations like Gondolo, Damo and Dugabelle • For the language learning of the team
Sharing a redemptive analogy with the Ganza “DON’T JUST SHARE GOD’S WORD AND THEN LEAVE!!” B efore we were blind, but now we are seeing. We want to hear more about these words.” Bona, chief of a nearby village had just listened with the rest of the crowd to what we had shared about there being no chicken, no goat, no cow’s blood is great enough to take away our sin and unite us with God. Because of His love for us, God himself put on a body and bones and blood and gave his blood as the sacrifice so we could return to commune with God. Of the whole crowd that departed with the promise to return the next morning, Bona was the only one who made good his promise. He crossed over a stream that had swelled to chest deep from the morning rains along with others from his area to hear more of the same. The third day, he came alone through the mud to listen again. We talked through the message from the day before and asked if he’d taken this in and would like to pray to take it in. I was not at all surprised when he was eager to do so. We gathered around him and laid hands on him as he told God he would leave bad things, turn toward him, take in Jesus blood, pray only to God, and believe. We prayed for him to receive the Holy Spirit, he started breathing heavily and when we finished, I noticed his eyelashes stuck together from the tears he had cried. He was filled. As we gathered again with a crowd on Sunday, my eyes rested on his face, head tilted as he listened eagerly. Through his worn and wrinkled face a gentle smile curved and his eyes shone with the newness of a child. The words were truly an “aroma of life” to him. Ganza enjoying a laugh The next steps are challenging So who will stay and give them more The Ganza guys who believe still have school for a few years. Yohan, a Church leader from a neighboring tribe comes with a Bible in his language only a handful of people in the area understand, but no one reads. The Lord has raised up a small team with an urgency of this need. I have worked with some of the Ganza guys to orally record Bible stories and songs to hopefully get out to this group. They are eager to continue meeting on Sundays, and for now all they have to go off of is the Holy Spirit. We don’t underestimate His power, but neither do we ignore the importance of workers in this white harvest field. - Loriann Hofmeister WAR WIDOW TAILORING Tailoring project in Sudan (Samaritan’s Purse file) S udan Interior Aid (SIA) is the relief and development arm of our partner church, Sudan Interior Church. They have a small initiative to use the local church to address the shocking need for microenterprise skill development in three proposed locations in Upper Nile state. $34,984 is needed to set up a training facility on church land to give skills to enable Sudanese war widows to rebuild their lives. In a two-year training, SIA can bring instructors for the training program. Along with sewing abilities, machine maintenance and business skills, widows will be taught God’s word and called to make a commitment to Jesus. This initiative has the potential of showing Christian care and strengthening the voice of the church. The believers can show their concern for the weak of the community and make a difference in individual women’s lives. At the end of the training SIA would like to find a microenterprise organization to underwrite their purchase of a sewing machine and launch them into their own business. Right now, the selected locations only have northern businessmen controlling the markets and sewing services. Some women in a church in the US have already collected beads, scarves, unused jewelry to enable women to start with lovely decorative options. But until funding is available, the training is on hold. Ask the Lord how He would like you to be involved. The first basic permanent multi-purpose structure on church property could be erected in October 2010 when the rainy season ends.
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SIM Sudan Newsletter September-December 2010 - World ...

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